


Reset

by yokazex



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst and Humor, F/F, Give Veronica a break, God sucks at being god, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, McNamara needs to be protected, Period-Typical Homophobia, Platonic Relationships, Seriously folks, Slow Burn, Time Travel Fix-It, odd flex but alrite, there is a cult in this and they're e d g y, this fanfic puts the laughter in slaughter, you should turn back before your eyes bleed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-07-29 20:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16272137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yokazex/pseuds/yokazex
Summary: After Veronica failed to stop JD from destroying the school, she finds herself in Limbo where she is told that she has been given another chance to change everything. Accompanied by a childish individual who calls themselves 'God', she decides to take this chance to fix everything and avoid the deaths that still haunts her to this very day.





	1. Back in the past, and God is actually a kid

**Author's Note:**

> What in gay's name have I created?

 

_Cold...it's so cold..._

Mocha-colored eyes lurched open. Veronica hadn't expected to appear in a voided location, yet here she was, standing in a small area of shimmering light surrounded by the murky darkness that seemed to beckon her towards them. Nothing but darkness could be seen in this empty void that the poor girl had awoken in.

_Is...that you...dear...Veronica?_

A voice from behind Veronica attracted her attention. She swept around. In the middle of the lit area, there stood a lone grey figure. Veronica didn't know how to describe them, she had never seen someone that looked so beautiful, yet so hideous, young, yet so old, their dark eyes told many stories, yet it held emptiness- it truly disturbed her. However as much as she truly wanted to look away, a strange sensation inside her enticed her, drawing her near the figure.

_Come closer..._

Veronica flinched as she heard the deep voice that growled at her from...somewhere. She stood there, perplexed and unsure of what her next move should be. Her eyes wander around the space, and another thought pushed the mulling question of who the figure was into the darkest corners of her mind. Just where the hell was she?

"Confused? You should be, It's been a long time since you've been here, I don't expect you to remember this place" A softer voice spoke. The voice appeared to have come from the figure. "Welcome back, Sawyer" Though Veronica heard their voice, her eyes widened when she saw that their mouth hadn't moved, not one bit. 

"W...who are you? What is this place?"  Veronica hesitantly asked. "Is this Limbo?... Am I dead?"

"So many questions...yet so little time" The figure replied. 

"Then I'm in what? Heaven, Hell?" Veronica continues. "Are you like what? God?"

The figure scoffed. "Don't compare me to that childish fool" A frown was formed onto the figure's face. "Anyways, let's get to the point"

"You're actually dead now, you were too late to stop Jason Dean from destroying the school, thus killing you and the people inside" The figure spoke. "But instead of your soul being sent to Heaven or Hell, it was sent to me, here in Limbo, because of one request made to me by someone you knew...for a long time"

Those words struck Veronica like a knife. Dead? She was dead? But she did everything she could to stop the inevitable consequence of JD's actions. Hearing this...did that meant that she had ultimately failed in the end? And also, who was this other individual that was making a request to this figure to give her another chance? She looked up at the figure's hollow eyes and held her gaze.

"I have been requested to revive you  _and_ send you back in time, to fix up your 'little' mistakes, to make sure that no one will die this time." The figure said. "Only if you actually want to"

"But why?" Veronica managed to utter in a pained voice. "Why do I deserve this when...?"

The figure held out their hand to cease Veronica from continuing, though the latter wanted to question more about the figure's involvement on all of this, she felt compelled to ease.

"We've all been impressed of your endeavors, Sawyer, don't be surprised that someone has requested for me to do this" The figure expressed, and for once Veronica heard an emotion behind the mysterious grey individual's voice, but she wasn't all too sure of what emotion it could be. "Hmm actually, I'll give you one other gift before you leave". 

A blue glow enveloped the figure's hands. They clasped them together and began chanting words in a language that Veronica wasn't familiar with. The light died down, and the figure removed their hands, revealing a golden, circular object that had a hole. It wasn't really much or impressive to look, it was just golden and that was that. The floating object drifted towards Veronica, she held a hand beneath the object before it fell to her palms.

"What's this for?" The figure didn't reply this time, they had withdrawn to a sorrowful silence. 

 The figure held out their hand towards Veronica. Their palms started to radiate in a pale, golden light, and suddenly, the very same light surged out, blinding Veronica and causing her to back away even more. Fortunately, she was able to adjust her vision to the light, and as she looked around in her surroundings, she noticed that the darkness around her had not been affected by this radiant light.

"You have a choice, take my hand and you will be back to those 'precious' times you treasured oh so much" There was a slight hint of sarcasm in the figure's voice, but Veronica hadn't noticed, her attention was at the glowing hand. "Or you can choose whether to stay and go to heaven" Veronica raised her own hand as various thoughts swelled in her mind; would she be happier this way, would  _everyone_  be happy this way? And with this, she would probably get rid of the weight in the chest that had continued to grow heavier as she watched JD becoming the monster that he had become.

"One chance, you've got one chance to change all of this" In the last minute of desperation, Veronica grasped the figure's hand and as she did so, she swore she saw the figure's mouth quirk up to form a small smirk.

"Huh, didn't think you would take the offer" Those words came as an echo to Veronica that reverberated around her dulling senses as she felt the fatigue beginning to creep. The familiar sense of tiredness felt drugged to her,  _fake,_ however, she brushed it off and allowed her state of mind to enter the dimension of unconsciousness and dreams. But something that lurked in her mind tried to constrain her to stay awake, endless questions that needed answers- just who was this figure? And why were they helping her? What was their sole purpose?

She struggled to stay awake, but her ineffective endeavors were left incompetent, and as she felt her eyelids becoming heavy as lead, straining themselves to be left open, Another unexpected wave of nausea and tiredness crashed against her like a wave. She starts to see the null void beckoning her to sleep.

"Oh, and by the way, my patron has sent another to take care of you throughout this whole..." The figure's voice faded.

The last thing Veronica saw being the darkness coming down on her like strong protective arms, that enveloped her in an embrace and held her close.

And the ringing noise that she had started to hear eased into a silence that was thunderous to Veronica's ears.

 

* * *

 

Veronica jolted awake from someone vigorously shaking her shoulders. In her vision, she could barely make out three blurry figures; three blurry colors she had familiarised with in the past, before all the incidents, before all the confusion, and before the destruction of the school. As her vision became clearer, she could make out the recognizable face of Heather McNamara pressed up against her. Veronica yelped and recoiled away, unaware of the set of lockers right behind her. The distorted sound from banging against the metal made Veronica wince, and from what she could discern, also made the group of three cringed.

Wait...three?

"Woah, Veronica easy now" Veronica heard McNamara's high pitched voice. Instantly, Veronica's vision became accustomed to the searing brightness of the sunlight and her senses became aware of the cool, crisp feeling of the air and the strong-smelling fragrance of someone's rose-scented perfume.

 _I knew someone who used that a lot._  Veronica grimaced.  _And was that Mac I just heard? Does that mean..._

Veronica's eyes wandered up. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened as she saw one individual she hadn't expected to see. Heather Chandler. The Demon Queen of Westerburg standing before her in all of her might and glory. She stared fiercely at the gawking girl beneath her figure, an angry frown starting to form.

"What the fuck are you doing laying on the goddamn floor?" Heather demanded. Veronica opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out, the astonishment of seeing Chandler alive was, well- just too much for her, as she could still vividly remember how the latter had died, how she was choking out the blue drain cleaner, her body convulsing, falling onto the ground as she reached for Veronica, before her body gave one more jerk and fell limp. But it seems that Veronica was in a time before she died, as here was Heather Chandler, alive and well, not even the faintest of blue liquid running down from the corner of her mouth. 

 _Then that figure...they were real?_ If she could, Veronica would have punched herself in the face to check if she wasn't dreaming. However, she quickly decided against it to avoid making a fool out of herself in front of the many students making their way throughout the halls of Westerburg and especially in front of the certain group of three that were beginning to be perplexed about Veronica's strange behavior. 

When she squirmed on her spot, it was only now that she noticed the object that was clasped in her left hand. She ran her thumb across its smooth edge, it was incredibly cold.

 _Holy crap, I'm...I'm actually...In the past...?_ Veronica began to stutter an answer to Heather's earlier question.

Before Veronica could muster one word, she heard the very obnoxious voices of two familiar jocks from somewhere nearby. _Kurt and Ram are alive too!?_ Looking past the Heathers, she witnessed the two carrying on with their usual antics.

"Veronica, stop spacing out there, you look fucking weird if you do" Chandler's voice brought back Veronica's attention to her.

"H-huh? Oh yeah" Veronica got herself up adjusting the neck of her shirt that she had noticed became crooked.

Heather started to speak once more, but Veronica had muted her surroundings. She was slowly grasping the situation she was in: She's in the past, everyone's alive, perhaps JD is also alive but she didn't want to think about him,  not after what had all happened, and it's all thanks to that puzzling figure and the figure's equally puzzling benefactor. Then she remembered the words the figure had said. It only took a moment for Veronica to register the serious situation that she was placed in,

She was given once chance, one chance to fix all of her mistakes, and she certainly wasn't throwing her shot away.

"-Ronica, were you even listening to me!?" Chandler yelled, attracting the attention of many of the students around them. What was Veronica supposed to say? Say that had watched her die and now she was here to fix the past. Yeah, mentioning what had happened in the past was way out of the question, if she could make an accurate guess, it would probably end up in the same way as before, Chandler, Kurt, Ram and all the students of Westerburg High including Veronica herself ending up in front of Death's doorstep. Veronica needed to be careful of what to say.

"Sorry, just tired" Veronica replied, scratching the back of her head in a sheepish manner and laughed nervously. She could hear Duke sighing behind Chandler.  _Oh, still her normal self._ S he glowered at the thought of future Duke, the very same Duke that drove Mcnamara- her own friend- to almost commit suicide.

"Extra homework  _again_?" Heather sneered. "You really are a nerd, huh?"

"What do you want, Heather?" Veronica met with Heather's piercing gaze.

Heather raised an eyebrow. "Watch your tone,  _Veronica_ " Heather hissed.

Veronica muttered a curse, loud enough for only herself to hear. She whipped her head around towards Chandler. "Sorry Heather, I've got somethi-" Before Veronica's sentence could be finished, the school bell blared throughout the hallway.

"Oh...time for classes" Veronica mumbled. She turned to look at McNamara. "What day is it, and what period is it?". The three Heathers stared at her in bewilderment. 

"Oh...um it's Monday, and we're just starting the 1st period..." McNamara answered nonetheless. "Uh...are you sure you're ok because..."

Veronica dismissed her with a small wave of her hand. "Sorry, I'm just really, really tired...I only got two hours of sleep last night, I'm pretty sure"

"Two hours of sleep?  What the fuck, would you be more chill on that extra homework?" Chandler growled. Veronica was confused why she was angry at her for doing extra homework, even if that wasn't the reason why her behavior had abruptly changed. Another part of Veronica told her a different story, that Heather was genuinely concerned for her health after only sleeping for two hours (a lie). But Veronica shoved those thoughts down the darkest depth of her mind with all the unwanted memories of past events left there to be untouched, because in reality, it would never happen.

"You have English, right Veronica?" McNamara said. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure or was it Economics...? Do I even have Economics?" Veronica replied, unsure of her answer.

"You even forgets their own timetable?" Chandler sighed, rolling her glazed, blue eyes. 

"Obviously someone who slept for two hours." Duke quipped, looking from the book she was quietly reading. "I gotta go, see ya'". She turned around without another word and left. The remaining three watched as Duke sauntered towards the other end of the corridor, her figure disappearing as she made a quick turn to the right.

"I suppose I should go now as well" Veronica uttered. 

"Do you want me to go with you?" McNamara asked. "Your English class is in the same corridor as my History class"

"N-No, it's fine". Veronica answered. "I've got some stuff to do before I head to class anyways" 

"Ok then, if you say so" And she left, leaving Veronica with Chandler. She gazed at Veronica, and as the latter gave a sideways glance to the slightly shorter girl beside her, she noticed that her face was blank, though Veronica could just scarcely see an unrecognizable emotion in those blue eyes.

Heather sighed. "Well, should we go to English then?"

Veronica shook her head. "You can go on without me as I said, I've got something to do". Heather quirked an eyebrow. 

"It's unlike you to ditch." Heather voiced her surprise.

"I know, just something more important than  _metaphors_  that I gotta deal with," Veronica said. "And anyway, I can just quickly forge a hall pass if any of the teachers are nearby"

"I suppose so then," Heather sighed. With a small gesture of her hand, Heather spun around towards the direction Duke had went. With that, Veronica was left remaining in the almost-empty corridor, the clicking of Heather's 6-inch heels bouncing off the walls and sending echoes throughout the hallway. Veronica watched as Heather's red-clad figure recede in the distance, before disappearing as she turned a corner.

 _Oh, and by the way, my patron has sent another to take care of you throughout this whole..._  Those words kept on repeating in Veronica's head. 

 _Huh, I'll figure out what they meant later, probably another 'gift'_  She looked at the object in her hands and rotated it around in different angles. She lifted it up to the light to see if it would react to it, but all it did was glint with a honey-gold sheen like real gold.

She was getting strange gifts indeed. 

"Indeed you are" Veronica turned around, she wasn't surprised that she had missed someone in the corridor since she was distracted, but she swore that all the students had vacated to their classrooms and that the corridors would surely be empty. Somehow, Veronica sensed that this individual wasn't  _human_.

This new figure was brighter in contrast to the grey figure from before. They had a child-like appearance, but it was obvious that they older than they appeared. Though they appeared human- with pale skin, and normal-looking blue eyes- there was just something about this figure that screamed out 'godly'. The figure was floating in midair, though it wasn't much of a surprise to Veronica, it would still be a long time for her to get used to the supernatural events that were occurring to her like a blur. Veronica took a further inspection of the figure's features. There were bandages wrapped around their left eye, it made her wonder what was hiding beneath those bandages, an injured eye? Or maybe an empty space that _lacked_ an eye? 

Then she saw the blood stains that were almost present on the white cloth that wouldn't be hard to miss.

"You must be Veronica right?" The figure seemed almost ecstatic to meet her. Veronica nodded slowly, causing the figure to sigh in content. "Thank fuck, I should have arrived earlier ago but I was stuck in...what was it again? 2018?" The figure shuddered. "I hate that year sooo much"

"Who are you?" The figure took a hand out from the pockets of their blue hoodie, offered a peace sign and grinned.

"Got no name, miss, but people call me 'God' from time-to-time" Veronica froze.  _Wait...this kid...is god?_

 _Don't compare me to that childish fool_ Now she understood the meaning behind the grey figure's words.

"So let me explain quickly before time starts up again." 'God' paused to see if Veronica would start demanding questions. 

Veronica hadn't noticed, but she felt incredibly lighter, weightless even, and it felt like the air in her lungs were stripped out. It felt like she was back in that void again, the darkness taking the form of one of Westerburg's long corridors. She had just become aware of the air just lingering in the ambiance, just staying, no movements, it just stayed in the deafening silence.

Seeing that she wasn't going to, they began to explain. "You, a dear protagonist of this story, has been granted a chance to fix everything."

"So I'm in the past now?" God nodded in response.

"I expected you to be more panicky since you literally just traveled back in time, you're way different than all the mortals I've encountered thus far." The corners of God's lips quirked up. Veronica was unsure whether to trust the mischevious look that formed on God's face. "Y'know what? I like ya' attitude"

"Thanks, I suppose?" Veronica grunted. "Now, what were you going to say earlier?"

God's face lit up. "Ah, right!" God slowly floated down, lowering their feet before plopping on the ground without any noise. "Right now, we're in a time waaay before everyone died, if I could take an accurate guess, I'd say three weeks before the first death happens"

 _Three weeks before I accidently gave Heather Chandler that liquid drain cleaner for her to drink..._  Veronica scowled.  _And three weeks before I met JD._

"You can do whatever to change the future, either way, all the paths you will take are neither right or wrong." God's expression suddenly darkened. When God began to speak again, there was another voice- one that sounded more masculine- speaking along with them."But just as we warned, you only got one chance."

Veronica gulped

God gave a small, friendly smile when they became aware of the taller girl becoming tense. "If you have any more questions, Miss, I suggest you should ask them now."

"I've got two questions." Veronica brought out the golden object and held it towards God, who after noticing it, dashed towards Veronica and started examining it thoroughly with much interest.

 "Wow, Miss!" God exclaimed. "I can't believe you were given this!"

"What is it?"

"It doesn't have a name, but there are two uses for it," God explained. "The first is to summon me whenever and wherever, and the second-" God opened their mouth to speak, nothing came out. They tried to speak again, but nothing.

Veronica frowned in confusion. "What?"

God chuckled. "Well you gotta find that out by yourself, it seems."

"Are you serious?" Veronica sighed. "Ok then, last question, since I'll be messing around with time or whatever, would there be any complications like paradoxes, loopholes- any parallel universes that'll get affected?"

"You've read a lot of those time travel fictions, haven't you?" God stifled a snicker. "Don't worry, nothing will happen as long as I'm here, why do ya' think Time sent me for a reason?"

"So none of those will happen?" 

God scratched their head. "Well, there is a slight chance of you creating a consistent causal loop if you follow on from your previous route, but I'm sure that you won't take it"

Veronica mentally noted down God's words. "Got it then, I've got no more questions, I suppose I can go to class now?"

God nodded. "It looks like we stopped this chat at the exact moment." Veronica started to feel like she could breathe as the cool, crisp air became alive again. The silence disappeared, though you wouldn't be able to notice it by any normal means, there was just something inside Veronica that made her notice. She noticed the dullness of the colors around them appeared to look brighter like before; time had begun to tick again.

"I'll be following you for now, Miss, you'll be the only one to see me, so try not to talk to me when you're around public to avoid making yourself appear like a psycho." God tilted their head and grinned. "Let's get to your English class then, for now, just do what you can, and find any small or big alterations that have been made"

Veronica shot them a glance before she took out her journal to rip a page out and started forging a late note.


	2. Tables are a Woman's best friend [PT1]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heathers are emotionally attached to a table, Veronica is confused, Duke let's off a bit of steam, and God just eats popcorn and revels in Veronica's plight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the notes at the end to why this weird chapter was suddenly written.

 

Veronica's AP English class was one of the most advanced classes in the entire school, so it was to no surprise that it would have been over-populated by awkward geniuses, and weird-looking nerds. And then there was Heather Chandler, the 'black sheep' in a classroom filled with geeks, and also the only person Veronica could tolerate in the entire class, which would have been surprising to everyone three weeks ago- Veronica? Actually tolerating the mythic bitch, Heather Chandler? Where had the world gone to?

Moving on from that, Veronica's AP English class went by like a breeze,

well not quite.

It was difficult concentrating on your education when the literal embodiment of god was literally just hovering above you. The entire time, Veronica had tried her very best to ignore God, but it was incredibly difficult to when the latter was just flying around the room and kept on trying to initiate a conversation with her every chance they could get. All of her endeavors ended sourly for her when she suddenly snapped at God (or in the case for the people who were oblivious to the figure hovering overhead them, the space above them) causing confusion among her peers, and almost getting a one-way trip to detention.

"Hey, your English class is pretty boring!" That was God's excuse, thinking it would get them out from Veronica's long lecture. Obviously, a weak excuse like that wasn't enough.

After going through five more periods and five more straining headaches, she was let out of her classroom. Currently, she was heading towards the cafeteria, God following from behind. Being a nobody before, she had attained some perks because to Veronica, it seemed pretty easy to slip through tiny spaces among the massive crowds of students, gained from years of avoiding any social interaction with people.

"Our the hallways always this crowded this time of the day?" God asked from above, looking around with such gleeful eyes that Veronica considered forgiving them for the mishap back in English class. "How the hell do you even manage to get through?"

"At least you don't have to avoid everyone and slip through gaps," Veronica grumbled. "You're lucky you're able to float."

God grinned. "Heh, perks of being an almighty deity I guess." They drifted closer to Veronica. "So we're going to some place called the 'cafeteria' right?"

Veronica snorted. "You've lived for what? Since the creation of the world? and you've never heard of cafeterias before?"

God shot Veronica a confused look. "I don't usually go out much, some words and places are still quite new to me." God's tongue poked out from the corner of their lips as they gave Veronica a casual gesture of a peace sign. "Sorry."

Veronica rolled her eyes in response. "We're here." She stumbled over to the double doors that led to the cafeteria, almost crashing onto a couple of people in the process, and burst into the area as students scrambled from the sides.

"Miss, I think you should move," God spoke. 

"Why?" 

"You're literally blocking the doorway right now." God pointed out. Only then did Veronica notice the angry looks that were aimed for her, and she quickly moved out of the way, muttering an apology, though she knew no one would be able to hear her.

Veronica looked around in search of the table the Heathers usually sat at, and when her eyes came across the small area where the table should be, there was just a free space. She arched a brow as her mind tried to calculate  _whatever the fuck happened to the table._

"So, who're we looking for?" God asked, eyeing the cafeteria in wonder. "So this is a cafeteria..."

"We're looking for three people, they wear color-coded clothes, and give off this superior aura," Veronica replied, looking around the area. "It's not really hard to miss-"

"Found 'em." God's nonchalant voice perked up from behind. Veronica glanced upwards and saw God pointing towards another table that wasn't far from the area, and sure enough, the three Heathers were there.

Veronica approached their table and sat down beside Chandler, grabbing the attention of the three for a fracture of a second, before they turned back to whatever they were doing before. "Hey." Veronica greeted, as God took a place beside her and simply stood there and watched. There was no response.

"Are they always this depressed?" God whispered. Now that God had pointed it out, Veronica examined the Heathers and finally noticed just how dispirited they appeared. The sparkle in McNamara's eyes had faded, replaced by emptiness, Duke was absently reading a book-  _To Kill a Mockingbird, nice-_ Flipping the pages back and forth as if she had missed something in the plot beforehand. And Chandler...Chandler was difficult to describe. She still tried to maintain her normal, prideful composure, but one could tell that she was about to break. 

Veronica shook her head. "No." She mouthed. God seemed to understand, giving a casual nod in response.

The depressed state the Heathers weren't quite a shock to Veronica. No, it was the sudden disappearance of the table that struck her odd. She swore that this event had never happened in the past timeline, so why...?

"Oh, so you've noticed as well?" God said. "The time anomaly, I mean."

"Time...anomaly...?" God nodded. They swept around to face the area the Heathers' table once stood. 

"Time anomalies are hard to explain, it's almost like time is trying to fill a voided space of future events that was erased when you changed something in the past, something like that," God explained. "It's like it needs something there."

Veronica had a subtle sense of what God's explanation meant, but she was still puzzled of the new event that appeared in this new timeline, but in spite of that, she doesn't continue questioning it.

"The best thing to do when you're faced with this kind of situation is to just ignore it," God continued. Then, they paused for a bit, hesitating to proceed. "But if you encounter a time anomaly that seems to repeat itself over and over again, the best advice I can give to you is to just hide and wait it out."

There was something behind God's words that were eerily strange. 

"Veronica," Veronica's head whipped around to face Chandler. "Where the fuck have you been?"  Veronica heard God wince at the sound of Heather's sharp voice.

Veronica's mind immediately thought of an excuse. "Sorry, I was held in by Mr. Mell."

Chandler thought that it was a good enough reason, as she turned her attention to McNamara, but not before shooting Veronica a cold look.

"Are you guys ok? You don't seem your usual selves right now," Veronica asked. "You all look so depressed."

"Mind your business,  _Veronica._ " Duke growled. Without the usual snarkiness in her voice, it seemed almost alien to Veronica.

"Shut up, Heather."

Duke didn't bother to apologize. 

Veronica heard McNamara mumble something, however, she didn't really quite catch what she said.

"Excuse me?" Veronica leaned forward.

"...-Ble..." McNamara spoke a little louder, yet it still wasn't audible enough for Veronica.

"...What?"

McNamara's mouth opened to reply, but Chandler had beat her to it.

"God, she meant the table!" The latter snapped, immediately rising from her spot and glowered at Veronica. 

Veronica stared at her blankly, unsure of what Chandler was referring to. Then it hit her. She tried to suppress a giggle that threatened to escape her lips, but in the end, she dissolved into hysterical laughter. All three Heathers stared at Veronica, all looked torn between embarrassment, anger and confusion. 

"Holy shit, I can't-" Veronica doubled over, cackling harder than before, clutching her stomach in order to ease the growing pain in her stomach. "Oh my god, I can't breathe."

Even God was left in bafflement at the former's sudden reaction. "Uh, Miss, ya' should calm down, you sound like a chipmunk that's begging to be euthanized."

"Oh god, this is golden," Veronica tittered as she slowly regained her composure. "I've never laughed so hard before."

"I'll consider that as a compliment because I don't have the mood to deal with your shit right now, Sawyer." Chandler sighed, leaning against her hand as she started fidgeting. "They got rid of that table, there can't be anything more depressing that." There was a hint of sadness in Chandler's voice that seemed almost foreign.

"But it's just a table though?" God tilted their head, quirking up an eyebrow. "How is that depressing."

Veronica voiced God's confusion. "If you guys haven't noticed, it's a table, it's not like it was diamond encrusted or anything."

What occurred next shocked Veronica a lot. McNamara leapt from her seat, slamming her hands onto the table and glared at Veronica with terrifying anger that made the latter shrink back in fear.

"You wouldn't get it!" Heather shouted, the tiniest of tears starting to well up in her eyes. "That table has been there for as long as we remember, it holds so many stories from our freshman years, and has been through the same things as we did! It's like...It's like..."

An awkward silence dawned upon them, no one dared to look at each other (Though Chandler was still glaring down at Veronica), and no one spoke. Veronica was momentarily stunned by McNamara's actions, but quickly recovered. "Oh...um...sorry, I guess?"

Who knew that the Heathers could be sympathetic over a table?

McNamara gave a heavy sigh. "No it's...it's alright...I mean, you did just join us." Even more silence.

"Wow, I never knew humans can get this sympathetic over a trivial thing like tables," God commented. "Did I somehow give you all too much unstable emotion-ness?"

Veronica shot God an awkward glance, which they took as a sign to quiet down. "Sorry."

"So there's that." Chandler huffed. picking up her fork and twirling around a piece of pasta mindlessly. "Go ahead and laugh, I don't I even have the mood to ruin your rep if you do."

Normally, Chandler would have scoffed at the little, stupid-looking scowl that formed on Veronica's face, but when she didn't, it really took the latter by great surprise. There was clearly something wrong here.  _Really_  wrong. Veronica would have troubled herself with this whole new situation, but with all of this time-traveling, doohicky stuff and an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion starting to creep in again, she left it unbothered. That is until, McNamara suddenly perked up with a totally horrible idea in mind.

"We could go find that table and bring it back." 

Duke slowly lowered her book and glanced at McNamara, it was obvious she was well interested in this proposal.

"...Continue on." Chandler spoke, that all-too-familiar coy smirk creeping onto the corners of her lips.

"I'm saying we could go out and find the table and bring it back," McNamara explained, clearer this time. 

"Well, we could..."Duke mumbled. "I Did hear that the tables the school got rid off are being sent somewhere."

Veronica blanked out for a while, until she realized what the Heathers were planning. "Wait, no, no, we're not going out right now just to bring back a table!" She whispered just loud enough for the others to hear, cautious if anyone was listening in right now and catch wind of the plan. "It's not like you guys can sneak out of school!"

Chandler turned to face Veronica, that smirk of her's only growing bigger than before. "What's your damage, _Veronica_?" Veronica heard a snicker coming from Duke's direction, low enough for only Veronica to hear. 

"Are you guys really going to risk it for a table?" Veronica asked.

Duke gave a shrug. "Just go with it already so we can this over with."

Veronica turned to God for help, but all the latter did was shoot Veronica a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, can't help you with this!" Veronica's last bit of patience was literally the only thing holding her back from strangling the deity. "Hey, I did say to not talk to me when you're around public, so I'll keep quiet for now."

"Well it's settled then, we're gonna get that fucking table back." Chandler's voice brought back Veronica's attention. 

Veronica gave up trying to intervene, she knew that she really had no choice in the matter. And also, maybe this time anomaly could be the opportunity Veronica needed to change the past just ever so slightly.

"Maybe, you never know," God spoke. "But using a time anomaly for your advantage, you're smarter than I thought, miss."

Veronica gave a nod of acknowledgment. She glanced at the three Heathers, who were already discussing their first move. It was going to take a while for Veronica to get used to their new antics. She takes out her journal, took out four absent slips that she saved for occasions like this and began scribbling down their names onto the paper.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Veronica had no slight clue of whatever was going on, but here she was walking down one of the empty corridors of Westerburg. It wouldn't have been awkward if she hadn't had to travel with Heather Duke, the one Heather who treated Veronica like crap with baseless hatred- and of course, God, who was casually hovering above them without a care in the world. Veronica never found out why Duke seemed to hold a grudge against her, she never got the chance to with all the conflicting events that eventually led to the school's destruction.

And even now, Duke appeared like she wanted to anywhere but near Veronica. It was pretty clear that she was trying to avoid her, from the rigid figure she carried, the awkward way she walked, and whenever Veronica ever got a little bit closer to her, she would shuffle away, mumbling a curse under her breath. 

 _Hm, if Mac was here, I bet she wouldn't act like this_. Veronica had observed that Duke was only comfortable whenever McNamara was nearby. But with her knowledge of the future, it greatly baffled her that Duke would still carry out her plan to 'take over the school', to a malicious point where she almost drove McNamara to suicide. 

Now one question remained, was it Chandler's death or Duke's power-hungry nature that caused a fault between McNamara and Duke's friendship? 

Whatever the answer was, Veronica would never know, but one thing for certain though, she will do her utmost best to circumvent that incident.

"You could try talking to her, y'know?" As if they could read her mind, God began to speak. "You could finally befriend her, this may be your only chance."

" _Yeah, but she hates me!_ " Veronica whispered. Thankfully Duke was busy reading another book to notice. " _Couldn't you see the coldness in her eyes!?_ "

"Miss- remember, one chance, one chance only," Veronica paused. "How many times do I have to remind you?"

"Hurry the fuck up, will you?" Duke seethed, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Veronica. "Heather and Heather are already waiting for us!"

Torn between two choices, Veronica didn't know what move to make next. Would she try to befriend Duke, or leave her alone, risking any future events to replay again? Almost a day in the past, and she already had to make a hasty decision. Her mind was swirling with thoughts, words and voices she could comprehend.  _What is the next step? What should I do?_

 _One chance..._  Thankfully, her heart knew what choice to make. With the bravest and clearest voice Veronica could muster, she began to speak.

"Why?" Words that just barely appeared in her thoughts started to spill from her mouth. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I done?" Veronica heard Duke's breath hitched as if she had started to have problems breathing. Veronica spun around to meet her gaze. Duke glared at her, but it was 'softer' than any glares Duke had given before.

"I don't necessarily hate you, but I don't like you either." Like a waterfall, words left unspoken from the timeline before began to burst. "It's just that, one minute you're one of the losers, the next, everyone is out to get in your pants. I've lied, I've stolen, I've cheated, I did everything I could just to get this role, but you..." Duke's voice faltered as she continued. "All you did was sign a random teacher's signature into a random piece of paper and suddenly you're one of us." She looked at Veronica, the faintest of tears rolling down her cheeks. "Compare that to what I've done and you'll understand."

Duke pinched the bridge of her nose as tried to suppress her cries. "I'm pathetic aren't I?"

Veronica was left in a frozen state of shock as she tried to find the words to speak. Seeing this, Duke huffed and started to walk again. "See? I knew you wouldn't understand." However, before she could be a meter away, Veronica grabbed her wrist. Now it was Duke's turn to be surprised.

"Heather, you must be a complete idiot if you think I don't understand." Veronica started to say before her brain could grasp the situation. Duke stared at her in confusion. "I do get it, I truly do, so don't just go ahead and assume I don't, because even I've gone through the same thing as you did."

"Damn, things are getting spicy," Veronica glared at God. "Sorry."

"Look I didn't even want all this popularity, I just wanted to sit with you guys for a day so jerks would think that you guys tolerate me and leave me alone." Veronica continued to speak. "And anyway, why do you need all this popularity? There really is no point."

"Say that to Heather and is really going to pound your ass." Duke chuckled darkly. At least she was laughing?

Veronica ignored what said. "Ok look, what I'm trying to say is that I just want to be friends with you ok? I know you're really just a sweetheart under all that bitchiness and makeup," Veronica stopped to see if Duke was going to retort. Seeing that she wasn't going to, she continued. "So what do you say?" 

She extended a hand towards Duke. The latter stared at Veronica and her hand in puzzlement. Seeing the supportive smile the crept onto Veronica's face, she felt reassured of her actions and eventually grasped her hand. Suddenly, Veronica pulled Duke into a hug, causing a tiny squeak of surprise to escape from the green Heather's lips. In due time, Duke hesitantly returned the hug, finding it hard to wrap her hands around Veronica.

Veronica chuckled. "I think Chandler's going to kill me if she ever sees you hugging me."

"Why is that?"

Veronica grinned. "Well of course, it's obvious! She would be jealous!" Her face suddenly lit up. "Oh! And McNamara as well, seeing how close you guys are."

"Would they really?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" Veronica chuckled again. "They are your best friends right?"

Those words struck Duke like a bullet.  _Friends..._  She never really thought of the two other Heathers as friends, she only thought of them as close acquaintances.  _Maybe Veronica is right, they are my friends_.

For the first time in her high school life, Duke smiled, one that wasn't faux and felt,  _genuine_.

God- who had merely watched the whole thing unfold before them- gave a soft smile at the wholesome scene before them.  _Looks like Sawyer saved someone, and on the first day!_  They looked out the window, and up to the clear blue skies.  _Looks like a good sign for what's about to unfold, I wonder what will happen next?_ They smiled as they saw a flock of birds soaring freely in the vast space above.  _Who knows? Even I don't!_

They noticed the two girls already leaving without them. "Ah shit." They immediately dashed towards them, reaching for Veronica. "Wait for me!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask, It was 1 am, I was barely awake and running on caffeine. I was trying to introduce the concept of time anomalies in this fanfic, and while I was trying to get ideas by writing down some possible ways, my eyes suddenly landed on my family's new coffee table...and then this baby was written. Oh and this story was meant to be longer, so it's why there are parts.
> 
> I wanted to write about Duke and Veronica's 'newfound friendship' right off the bat so that there won't be a likely case that I would forget, so here's some early platonic Dukesaw for you lovely people. 
> 
> Lastly, If you don't mind, would you all mind putting constructive feedback since my English ain't that great, thanks!


	3. Tables are a Woman's best friend [PT2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God disappears, Veronica is still pretty confused, and the Heathers + Veronica drive to an abandoned factory, hopefully, nothing goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I would like to say thank you guys very much for reading this fanfiction and leaving kudos! I just hope that I will be able to meet up with your satisfaction and well, enjoy this fanfic!!
> 
> Again, thank you all soooo much!

_Blood._

Crimson blood.

Splattered against the rusted, metal walls, dripping onto the frigid floor. The room was dark, the faintest of a shimmering light outlining the silhouettes of corpses that slumped against the walls, and the stench of death overwhelmed the area, a scent that could quickly engulf your senses and leave you drowning.  

Amongst the dead bodies, there stood a still, lonely figure in the middle of it all. It didn't seem like they had caused the aftermath, seeing as they were clutching their face to stifle any cries and bile that were about to burst. 

You could hardly see what the figure looked like, but as the light moved towards them, you could now see. 

Grey eyes.

Brown hair. 

A familiar black trench coat. A glint of a gun stationed away in one of its pockets.

Another figure appeared in the room, one who appeared innocent and child-like. Their blue eyes wandered towards the other figure in the room,  widening at the very sight of the red, viscous liquid splattered everywhere. Then they glowered, eyes blazing in anger as they pointed an accusing finger at the other. 

The black-clad figure held up their hands in defense, shouting out cries of disbelief. Though as hard as the figure tried to claim themselves as innocent, he was already holding the evidence.

A bloody, serrated knife.

The child-like figure's eyes darted to the four corpses. 

_Red._

_Yellow._

_Green._

_Blue._

They were all here. All with inflicted knife wounds that continued to bleed profusely. In their necks, stomach, arms. It looked like a massacre. Once individually colorful, now all painted the same.

_**Red.** _

It was mortifying to look at. It wasn't supposed to end this way, there was supposed to be a happy ending. The figure cursed this world and how it worked, the four didn't deserve any of this mistreatment, they were supposed to  **live** ,but fate had ruined the figure's plans. 

The world around the figure started to darken as the other moved quickly towards them. The last thing the figure saw was a pair of furious, stormy-grey eyes before their world turned into a blinding flash of white light.

 

* * *

 

"Where the hell are we going again?"

Chandler gave another tired sigh. "For the last time, we're going to the dump"

The red Porsche Chandler owned came to a stop, as the traffic light in front turned red. The silence that filled the vehicle was more than a little uncomfortable, with one of them trying to start a conversation, but complete sentences just couldn't seem to form properly; well for most parts anyways, Veronica and Duke spent the time whispering to each other, catching up on some stuff and finally getting the chance to learn more about each other. 

Veronica knew that Duke was a snarky person, but she had a great sense of humor that never failed to get her to convulsed in hysterical laughter.

Duke knew that Veronica was a dorky nerd, but she never knew that the latter almost had the same interest of book genre, tv shows and musicals as her until now.

Slowly, McNamara casually slipped herself into their conversation, and whatever they were talking about, Veronica had tuned out.  

No matter how God tried their best to explain, she still had a vague idea of how time anomalies worked. Even now, she still tried to figure out what she had done for a small event in the past to be completely changed. God should have the answer, but they disappeared before Veronica could have a chance to question them. Veronica wouldn't be concerned in the slightest about this ordeal, it was probably something hardly crucial, but as God was about to leave,

Veronica noticed the distraught look on their features that suggested otherwise.

Whatever God was going to deal with, she didn't really want to bother with, after all, she had even more pressing matters to attend to, and that was to get through this new, unexpected chain of event.

"So, the table's in the dump?" Veronica asked, glancing at Chandler. 

Chandler probably sighed the hundredth time by this point. "How many fucking times do I have to say it?" Chandler's head spun around and met with Veronica's gaze. "Yes, it is."

Veronica bit back a retort and slumped back in her seat. Chandler gave a triumphant huff before the car started to slowly cruise as the traffic light shone a brilliant green. 

"Tough," Duke spoke from beside her. "I thought she was gonna be easy on you since-"

" _Shut up, Heather!_ ' Chandler interrupted. Veronica flinched at the sudden sharp tine of Chandler's voice. 

"Sorry, Heather." Duke apologized, though Veronica wasn't sure if it was authentic, aware of the playful smirk that perked up slightly. McNamara giggled at their interaction, causing Veronica to be even more confused.

What she didn't know was that Chandler was incredibly suspicious of Duke and Veronica's relationship. Before, Duke would bark out any complanits she had for the brunette and would rather stay away, but ever since earlier when they got into her Porsche, they had beaming smiles on their faces and laughed among themselves, it was like they were best friends from the moment they first met. Even McNamara seemed dubious of the two, though that suspicion was wearing thin, albeit slowly.

That was something Chandler will try to figure out for another time, for now, her first objective was to get the table and get it over with.

Veronica opened her mouth to say something, but the simplest of words just couldn't seem to form.  _Ugh, why can't I speak properly, Is it a side effect from the time traveling?_  Veronica huffed. 

The car takes a sharp turn to the right. 

The road seemed to grow narrower the further they drove, everything around them becoming more pitch-black as the illumination of the streetlights grew smaller behind them. Veronica felt a strange surge of uneasiness creeping up, in spite of the fact that she had lived in Sherwood for as long as she could became aware of the world around her, she had never known that an eerie road like Chandler had taken had existed in the first place. Not only that, the dump wasn't supposed to be further away from the town, in fact, she remembered that the dump was in the opposite direction.

This time anomaly was really getting to Veronica's nerves, once God comes back, she swore to herself that she'll demand the answers from them-  ones that actually made  _sense_.

 _Speaking of God, I'm still wondering where the hell they could be?_ Veronica gazed out the window, and at the blur of greenery as the car sped by them.  _I mean, who the hell just leaves without a word of where they were going?_

She was in too deep in her thoughts to notice Duke trying to catch her attention from the seat beside her, until the latter flicked a finger on Veronica's forehead and she found herself drifting back to reality. Veronica blinked a couple of times as her mind slowly perceived what just happened. 

Veronica shifted around towards Duke. "What's wrong?"She asked, frowning.

"You looked really out of it," Duke explained. "Something in your mind?"

Veronica's eyes wandered towards where McNamara sat and saw her staring at her with the faintest look of sympathy. There was another emotion in those ocean-blue eyes, but Veronica couldn't discern what it was, due to the dim lighting that hindered most of her vision. Then Veronica's eyes landed on the rear-view mirror. Chandler's eyes seemed to be locked onto her, but at the same time, her eyes appeared distant. 

As the car rolled past a space between the trees, amidst the light of the moon, Veronica noticed a glint of worry in Chandler's eyes.

"Hmm, yeah, sorry my mind just kinda wandered off," Veronica replied. It wasn't really far from the truth anyway.

That seemed to convince all three, as they continued to busy themselves with anything trivial.

The car would have been completely silent if it weren't for the somber song playing from the radio, and the soft humming coming from McNamara in front. They left it like that for ages, until McNamara suddenly perked up and pointed something in front.

In the horizon, Veronica could just barely make out a black silhouette against the pale moon. With the jagged shapes and inward lining, anyone would mistake it for weirdly-shaped canopies, but if you squint, you could be able to notice that it wasn't trees at all.

"We're here." Chandler spoke for the first time since the last turn.

 

* * *

 

The dump wasn't really what you would anticipate at first. If you heard the word dump, you would immediately think of massive piles of rubble, garbage and any useless junk that found their place there. However, in Sherwood, it was entirely different.

The dump was a place where a massive factory used to stand in its prime glory, no one was sure what they produced there as the history of the factory was immediately erased when they decided to close it down, heck even no one was sure of the reason of its closure. Years later, all that was left of the factory was a towering structure of decaying metal that creaked and moaned from decades of rust, now its use was for the residents of Sherwood to simply dump their unneeded items and rubbish there and drive off, and to house many species of animals that found the unearthly building a comforting and safe area, away from anything harmful.

To Veronica, there was something unsettling about the structure that sent chills down her spines and goosebumps on her arms, how the metal just seemed to lean over you like a colossal monster, mouth open, the darkness inside ready to swallow you whole, or how the wind just whistle through, creating howling noises that would suggest the presence of wolves, as if they probably weren't already. But-

That was just nothing, Veronica swore there was truly something there, waiting in the shadows.  _Or it could be my paranoia getting severe_ Veronica mused.  _There's probably nothing in there but shit_.

Veronica opened the car door and stepped out. She was greeted by a sudden blow of the chill breeze and the song of the crickets that were somewhere out there. Despite being a site where you just casually deposit your garbage, it didn't stench as much as it looked.

"Damn, I really hate this place," Duke complained as she shut the car door behind her. "Not only it's creepy as hell, but there are also wild animals here."

"They can't be that bad!" McNamara objected. The others looked at her with unexpressive looks. 

"Mac, there are probably fucking wolves in there," Duke said in a monotonous voice. "As in wolves, y'know, those carnivorous animals that have claws and teeth."

"You forgot hunger for meat" Chandler added.

"Yes! And that," Duke stepped closer to McNamara. "Listen, not all animals are friendly, Mac. Some can kill you."

"I don't think they're wolves here," Veronica perked up, noticing McNamara becoming downcast. "Those howls we hear, probably just the wind."

"Hm, you might be right, I've never heard any reports of wolves around the area," Duke considered, cupping her chin as she became deep in thought. "But then again, I still find this place a little bit too creepy for my taste."

Chandler became impatient, banging the roof of her Porsche to gain their attention. "What the hell are guys doing just standing there, we've got a table to find," She clicked her tongue as she started walking towards the abandoned factory. "Now get your asses over here."

The three looked at each other and decided to end their conversation there. They approached Chandler, who already had a small plan to find what they were looking for.

"I think the best way we can find that shit is split up," She spoke. "Mac, you're with Duke." She continued, pointing at McNamara then to Duke. 

It didn't take Veronica long to figure out that she was left, which mean,

"Ronnie, you're with me." Veronica gulped hard at the thought of spending the time alone with Chandler. As if the thought of wolves being around the area, and the eerie ambiance the structure held were bad enough, Veronica was going to spend the time alone with Chandler, who was probably going to cause her death.

And Westerburg's first death wouldn't be a fake suicide.

"Ok, fine, let's get this over with." Veronica sighed, stepping closer to Chandler. Duke and McNamara nodded, heading off to separate from Chandler and Veronica.

"Well, hurry her ass up then, Veronica." Veronica didn't notice Chandler already meters away from where she originally was and hurried after her to avoid any more complications.

Unbeknownst to her, the golden stone given to her by that grey figure began to glow in a pale, honey-gold sheen, waiting.

 

 

**「Next time」**

 

"I wonder why this place was abandoned."

"These symbols...why are they here?"

"I've been getting these visions and dreams..."

 

"...JD...?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to not make sense lmao


	4. Tables are a Woman's best friend [PT3]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if nothing interesting happens, then suddenly, trenchcoat-wearing sociopath, JD appears with a bang, and McNamara gets a vision from the night before that suggests that JD may be part of a satanic cult.

Veronica wasn't really too fond of the dark. 

Ever since she was a young child, she was told many stories about creatures with razor sharp teeth, and claws so long that it was capable of cutting multiple trees in half, roaming the woods at night. Of course, as she got older, Veronica started to doubt these stories and started to believe that they were nothing more than an old wives' tale. However, she was still uncomfortable when it came to dark places, for she knew that there was just something there that lurks in its murkiness.

And now here she was about to enter one of the most unsettling buildings she had ever seen. It was also abandoned and run-down so that was a bonus.

Veronica quietly followed Chandler into the factory, taking in her surroundings. A few piles of metallic objects and junk here and there, bits of old newspaper, and just normal everyday garbage, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Veronica flinched at the sound of skittering of tiny paws, leaping back and almost falling on a pile of garbage. 

"Jesus, Veronica," Veronica raised her arm in front of her face as the light from Heather's flashlight shone over her. "Just hurry up and get yourself up, we haven't got all night!"

Veronica rolled her eyes, picking herself up and dusting the dirt from her blazer. "Yeah, yeah, calm your tits." She muttered under her breath. Thankfully, Chandler hadn't caught wind of what she had said and continued walking without another word.

After returning to the past, Veronica noticed a slight change with Chandler's personality. The Demon Queen of Westerburg seemed somewhat nicer and tolerable, she had expected Heather to somewhat be her usual very-bitchy self when she had arrived in the past, but so far she hadn't threatened Veronica to strip her of her popularity, nor rebuke Heather Duke as much as she did in the previous timeline.

_I'll blame everything on this time anomaly, for now,_ Veronica started to walk again.

Majestic, yet she walked with great strides, Veronica almost had to run just to keep up with Chandler's pace. 

Veronica swore that the other had seen her struggling to keep up, but she had spoken no word about it and for a second, Veronica thought that there was truly something wrong.  _Yep, this time anomaly messed up Heather._

Veronica and Heather walked passed numerous, worn-out metal doors; some with signs hanging on the front with indecipherable words engraved onto them. Veronica tried peering inside the rooms that led from them, but she found the darkness to be too thick to even see a speck of anything from within.

Veronica settled her hands inside the pockets of her blazer and started fiddling with the stone. The silence between the two lingered for so long, it became incredibly awkward. Veronica wanted to say something to Heather- to ask why she was acting slightly weirdly- just to get rid of the tension in the ambiance. However, no words just came into mind.

Abruptly, Veronica heard Heather mutter incoherent words. "What was that, Heather?"

Veronica hadn't noticed Chandler gritting her teeth as she forced herself to answer. "I said, are you ok?" She spoke, astonishingly. Veronica hadn't expected Heather to answer and was indeed surprised.

However, now Veronica didn't know what to say, afraid that whatever that was going to come out of her mouth seemed like a lie- because of course, telling Heather Chandler that she had come from the future to stop her's and Kurt and Ram's death would sound like a definite lie. The only option for Veronica was to avoid telling her about the time-traveling, and tell her a more believable 'lie', a somewhat hypocritical thing to do, but was there really any other choice?

Words started to spill from Veronica's mouth. "I-uh...my cousin just...died," She cursed at herself for sounding faux. "From cancer! Yes, cancer..." Veronica knew that Heather wouldn't believe her outrageous statement.

For a split second, Veronica saw a glint of doubt in Heather's green eyes- as if it was prying deep into her figure to try and see the deception- before she turned to face the darkness and Veronica couldn't see her anymore.

"...Ok," Uncertainty laced Heather's voice, but she left it there and continued onwards.

Veronica decided it was the best time to continue the conversation. "So, why did the school decided to get rid of your table?"

Heather shrugged, however, she seemed hesitant to give a reply. "Not so fucking sure, it was just there then it was gone." Her voice was rich with confidence as usual, but Veronica still noticed the uncertainty, as if she was also lying.

Perhaps, Veronica wasn't the only one lying.

At this point, Veronica would have tried to pry some answers from Heather, but immediately decided against it.  _I should avoid angering Heather in this timeline, last time I did..._  Veronica shook her head to clear her mind.  _Best not to think much about it_.

"Why do you think this place was abandoned?" 

Chandler's brows furrowed. "You ask way too many questions," She sighed. "I don't really care what happened to this place, but I heard that they were doing some sort of satanic stuff in here, took them 15 years to figure that out."

_What, that's not what I heard from before, didn't it closed down because it was too infested with rats?_. "Are were they not suspicious of this factory, I mean look at it!"

" _Please,_ " Chandler scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "They probably knew but were too much of a pussy to handle that kind of stuff."

Veronica sped up and caught up with Heather, beginning to walk by her side. "You seem sure of that."

"I'm always sure of what I think," Heather replied almost instantly. 

After what seemed to be hours of silence, they finally came upon a flight of decaying stairs. Carefully, Veronica ran her hand along the metal railings. "We going up?" She saw Heather nodding in reply. Veronica placed her foot on the first step. It started to creak- loudly- arousing nearby critters from their dormancy. The noises they made as they scurried beneath the roots and flew above the ceiling was almost deafening for Veronica, staggering her as she recoiled back and covered her ears.

But Chandler was more unlucky, drawing back in shock and tripping on a wooden pole. She fell and gripped onto a large, worn-out shawl hanging on the walls to stop herself. But she hadn't calculated the strength of the fabric and instead, fell to the ground with a loud thud that sent more animals ajar.

The shawl slipped with her, and Veronica almost gasped at the sight.

A bloody, red symbol of an eye.

Veronica swore she saw the symbol before, somewhere in the other timeline, but where and when did she see it?

_Please don't tell me I have to also deal with satanic stuff in this timeline_. Veronica felt on of her vein's popping.  _Damn that God, they better be back with some answers because I'm getting way more confused by every minute._

At that moment, Veronica and Chandler heard a howl in the distance. They weren't sure if it was just the howl of the wind or an actual wolf, but when they turned to glance at each other, they both made a silent agreement to hurry up and get the table, before whatever that was calling the abandoned factory their home got to them.

Veronica helped Chandler to her feet, the latter muttering a quiet thanks to her before dusting herself off. Chandler pressed on towards the stairs and after taking one last look at the crimson eye, Veronica followed without another word.

The staircase wasn't as winding and long as Veronica had expected, and after speeding through it, they found themselves in front of a massive door. Without delay, Chandler pushed it opened, and they were both greeted by a cold, gentle breeze. They had arrived at the tallest room of the entire factory.

The room was incredibly massive- a size extensive enough to be even called a ballroom. In the furthest corner of the room, there was a sizable hole that let in the silver glow of the moon. From outside, Veronica could see the sky, like a pitch-black curtain draping over the heavens, and the twisted, warped shapes of the stars in the vast murkiness- like milky specks that shone and danced with the moon as their spotlight.

With the room being dimly-lit, Veronica took a good look at the environment around her. There were tall, canopies of trees with thick trunks and roots everywhere, with critters of varying sizes scurrying on the branches or under the roots- it was like a small ecosystem had grown itself in there. 

It was truly a peaceful sight to behold, looking at it gave Veronica a sense of tranquility that she had never felt before. "Wow, this place feels so calm," Veronica whistled, glancing at Chandler. "Don't you agr-...Hey, are you alright?" She noticed the faraway look Heather had. The latter's eyes were glaring at the hole, as if there was something there. 

Veronica was familiar with that look Heather bore, it was a look she gave when she saw something detestable, loathsome- something Heather would take personal offense. 

Directing her gaze towards the hole, Veronica started to scrutinize it to see if there was something out of place. 

She froze when a dark shape started to rise, a large shadow amidst the light. It took the figure of a human, so the idea of it being an unruly monster was definitely out. Peering closely, Veronica saw more details.

A black trenchcoat cascading in the wind. A lanky figure of a man that slouched from exhaustion.

Dread struck Veronica, she knew only one person with such description, but it couldn't be possible. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins like a trout through a stream, sweat rolling down her delicate cheeks. Her mind begged and screamed for her to run but she was stuck in a frozen state of fear. 

She looked at Heather. The latter didn't seem afraid, not one bit, her expression was a mix of confusion, anger and displease and it left Veronica confused about what she was feeling. Of course Heather wouldn't be afraid, she was assertive of everything, and she still hadn't known that this figure...

Was the one who killed her.

"...JD...?" Veronica whispered those words as if it were foreign. There was still a part of her that doubt the possibility, but here was the sociopath, standing in all of his glory.

Then Veronica's eyes widened at the sight of a black gun hiding in the trenchcoat's pockets, she knew that she had to run.

Unless she wanted both her and Chandler to die.

And as mentioned before, Westerburg's first death wouldn't be a fake suicide.

The stone seemed to glow brighter than before.

 

* * *

 

"Hey...um...Heather?"Duke turned to face McNamara as she heard the latter starting to speak. 

"What is it?" Duke replied, sounding more menacing than she had intended to do. 

McNamara winched at the tone of Duke's voice but continued anyway. "You see, I've been getting these weird visions and dreams."

Duke froze. She pointed her flashlight towards McNamara's feet, careful to not blind the girl. "What?"

"Well-erm..." McNamara trailed off. The dream was still vivid in her mind. She remembered the sound of squelching flesh as the knife plunged deep into their bodies, the blood splattered nearly everywhere, the two figures squaring up for a fight. It was almost disgusting to watch as the locked themselves into a fistfight, with the childish figure appearing to be the dominant one, until the other thrust the knife right into their chest. How much McNamara wanted to scream, how much she wanted to run away, but she had found herself in frozen in place-

"Nevermind, It's probably silly." McNamara said, pushing those memories to the back of her mind.

In spite of that, Duke didn't take that for a valid answer. "No, it's ok Mac." 

"Heather, it's alright, just don't get bothered about it, please."

_The child-like figure staggered back, coughing up blood as they clutched the wound inflicted on them, the blood seeping through the fabric of their white hoodie and cascading down like a small waterfall. They grinned as the black-clad figure neared them._

But Duke continued to persist. "M," McNamara felt a hand grasping her shoulder softly and she looked up to find Duke's concerned gaze. "I may not be Veronica, but you can always talk to me, you know?"

_"You know, for being called 'God', you're quite weak," The trenchcoat wearing individual snickered. "I expected you to use your 'abilities'."_

_The figure, now known as 'God', started to walk back. "I thought you already know," More blood started to fall from their mouth. "I don't use it on mortals like you, I've promised myself that."_

_The other figure's features contorted into rage. They raised their clenched fists and stuck 'God' just on the crown of their head. They continued pummeling 'God' into a pulp, eyes seething with an inhuman fury. "Are you calling me weak?!" 'God' did little to defend themselves from their attack._

McNamara was still silent, remorseful over the dream she had before. She didn't know how to describe what she had witnessed. It felt so real, yet so fake, and it confused her.

Duke noticed McNamara withdrawing into a sullen silence. "M, come on, you can trust me."

McNamara still refused.

_"Yes." 'God' managed to score a hit on the other figure, giving an uppercut to their jaws that made them recoil back. "Mortals like you- who would deal with the devil just to get power- are weak."_

_The figure snarled and brandished a Glock from their trench coat. "This will finally shut you up."_

"N-no, it's fine," McNamara finally spoke. "Just...forget about it,  _please_." It sounded more like an order than a request, and Duke knew that it was probably for the best to stop asking her.

"Alright," She hesitantly speaks. "But know that you've got me to talk to, ok?"

McNamara was surprised that Duke cared about her.

_The trenchcoat-wearing figure placed their finger on the trigger and fired, only missing by a hair as 'God' took the initiative to dodge in time. Growling, the figure kept on firing, every shot they fired, they missed or it ricocheted off the metal surfaces._

_It went on for a continuous amount of time until the figure heard the gun clicked. With a growl, they threw it against the ground and pulled out the serrated knife. "'God', I will kill you, and I will prove to the Red Eye that I'm not weak."_

And that was all McNamara could recollect from the dream, before there was a blinding white flash and she found herself hyperventilating in her bedroom, soaked in sweat and tears. 

Duke stopped persisting and continued on walking. McNamara sucked up a breath before heading towards her to catch up. 

They carried on, as usual, talking about random topics about boys and school. They had forgotten about the conversation earlier as quickly as it started, and it relieved McNamara. 

Then they heard a bang. The noise rang out throughout the whole structure, echoing through the empty halls and triggering the residing animals into an alarmed state of shock.

"What the fuck!?" Duke exclaimed.

McNamara didn't answer. The nightmare had begun.

 

 

 

**「Next time」**

"What the hell was that for!"

"This stone...it's more powerful than I expected."

"Oh god...please don't die."

"The countdown for the first death as already begun, good luck, miss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are actually getting interesting (I think) for once lmao.


	5. Forget the table, there's a cult!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica almost died if it weren't for JD's weak aim. God finally comes back (thank god...), even more confusing than ever. McNamara needs a hug like right now, and God apparently can break the fourth wall.

**_Bang._ **

The gunshot echoed deafeningly in the confines of the room. The bullet whistled past Veronica, only inches away from her ear, and struck a tree behind her. Veronica's head turned slowly, gazing at the sizzling bullet hole on the trunk. Veronica felt her blood run cold as she realized that could have been her, had she moved a little to the right.

Veronica's train of thought was immediately broken when she heard Chandler practically screeching at the top of her lungs right beside her. "What the hell was that for?!"

Heather stormed onwards to JD. Veronica would have tried to grab the girl by the arm and pull her back in, fearful of the consequences, but she remained standing in her spot, her body refusing to move. The sound of Chandler's six-inch heels drawing further and further away made Veronica anxious, for she knew that it would be the last time she would hear the noise if she didn't decide to take action.

A day in and she was already failing.

Heather immediately clutched onto the collar of JD's shirt and pulled him in, glaring at him with a blazing fury. Veronica mused as she saw JD cower slightly from Chandler's authority, she was glad knowing that the latter still had that effect on people.

But there was something off. JD seemed a bit,  _different._ He looked utterly terrified of Heather, but from the timeline before, Veronica knew that JD wasn't even an inch scared of her, he was fearless, he was strong. But this version of JD was different, in contrast to the one from before, who was willing to kill anyone who dared mess with him or Veronica, who was willing to blow up the school and the student body for their love. And seeing this weak, pathetic version of the sociopath, it made Veronica scoffed at how low JD had fallen- even though it was happening at a time before everything.

"It appears we've encountered yet another time anomaly, though it appears that you didn't cause it, this time." Veronica perceived a familiar childish voice from beside her. God was floating a good meter above the ground, a hand on their chin as if they were in deep thought. "Hmm, yes, it appears we're actually going to encounter complications in your 'adventure'"

Veronica wanted to ask God what they meant but was immediately silent by a wave of a hand. "I know you have questions, you may only ask the important ones, we don't have enough time right now."

Yet again, there was just something uncanny behind God's words. _It's probably just the way they talk_. Veronica told herself.

"Where have you been? You suddenly just disappeared without a word!" Veronica half-shouted, making sure to avoid letting Chandler and JD overhear their conversation. 

God gave a sheepish smile. "Ah, well...I had something important to do, y'know, godly stuff and all that." It was easy to understand that God was telling a fib. 

"And that is...?" Veronica queried.

God seemed somewhat dubious to answer, but Veronica already got the answer she wanted; God was hiding something from her.

"It's...classified," God finally spoke. "I...I've been told to not reveal it by Time."

_Time?_ "That grey, slightly depressing figure you met in Limbo"  _Oh_. Veronica stiffened, did God just read her mind? "Yeah, I can also hear typing noises and someone talking as if they're narrating this whole thing." Oh my.

Veronica stared at God in disbelief. "You can read people's minds?"

"Yeah I can, sorry I couldn't tell ya." God gave a sly grin. "But really, you should pay attention to those two over there, Red looks ready to castrate the poor fool." Chandler's screeching brought Veronica's attention to the two. Chandler was chastising JD- probably telling him of the horrible things that she was capable of doing. 

On the other hand, JD looked like he wanted to sink through the floor, and never face a furious Chandler ever again. Veronica tittered, for she had also been in JD's position, tens and hundreds of times before, it was quite refreshing to see someone that wasn't her- and in particular, someone she grew to loathe- being rebuked instead.

Sighing, Veronica dashed towards the two and immediately placed herself between them. "Alright, it's enough guys." She turned to JD. "Now why did you fire the gun?"

"Look, I didn't mean to," JD began. "I've tried explaining to that idiot friend of your's that it was a mistake."

Veronica was still rather doubtful of JD, she still deemed him as untrustworthy. The latter seemed to notice the look of doubt on Veronica's face and continued. "I'was hiding here from a couple of people that are after me, I thought you two were them and fired a warning shot to tell them to back off."

Veronica immediately grew more attentive to what JD was saying. She was highly interested in who these people were that were after him. 

"Who is after you?" She asked.

"Members from a gang, or a cult called 'The Red Eye'." From the corner of her eye, Veronica saw God stiffen and their breath hitching, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. Clearly, God knew who 'The Red Eye' was, and Veronica wanted even more answers.

"Who's this Red Eye you're talking about?" Chandler scoffed, a hint of uncertainty lacing her voice. 

JD's eyes fixated on a tree nearby. Veronica and Chandler's gaze followed his line of sight, Chandler gave an audible gasp at what they saw.

In the tree, the same symbol of a red eye like from before was smeared onto the trunk. To Veronica, it felt like the eye was staring at her, as if was watching her every move, as if it was  _smiling_  at her.

"The Red Eye has made this building one of their bases, so you can either trust me," JD hesitated. "Or as simply put, die by their hands." Veronica felt her blood run cold.

"Trenchy is right, we need to leave." Hearing God's panicked voice was foreign to Veronica's ears. Obviously, God was familiar with this group, and if they felt unnerved just by hearing the name, then clearly The Red Eye was something to not mess with jokingly.

"Ok, we'll live, but they're other with us, we need to go look for them-"

"Did you guys seriously split up?" JD pinched the bridge of his nose. "In a scenario like this, it's probably the stupidest thing to do."

"Well, how were we supposed to know that some satanic cult hangs around this place, no one has ever heard of this 'Red Eye' before," Chandler scoffed. "So don't go around blaming us for something we weren't sure of."

JD sighed, running a hand through his brown locks. "You're right, sorry, it's just this group is making me anxious, I've heard stories about them back from Texas, and from what I've heard, they're pretty capable of committing murder."

"Capable of murder...?" Veronica murmured, tearing her gaze from the tree. JD nodded slowly, glancing at the tree. 

"I've seen in, how they...they do it," JD's eyes were watering, but it wasn't enough to form tears. "It happened to someone I knew." He whispered softly.

Anxiety began to well up in Veronica's chest and she found it becoming difficult to breathe. If such a group exists, and they call the abandoned structure their base, then to put in simply, there was a high risk of any of them dying.

"Right, so we have to get outta here, or else," God whispered. "We need to find those two and get outta here."

Veronica nodded. "Right." She whispered back.

As if a divine agency heard their pleas, McNamara and Duke suddenly burst through the door, collapsing into a heap onto the floor. From the loud heaving resonating throughout the massive room, everyone was quick to understand that the two had ran, and with the apprehensive looks on their faces, probably ran to check up on Chandler and Veronica after hearing that loud bang.

 "Did someone die!? Holy shit!" McNamara exclaimed between breaths. 

"No one's dead," Chandler clicked her tongue as she approached the two. "And also, stop panting like dogs."

"Well geez, sorry that we ran to check up on your ass when we heard that gunshot," Duke growled, hauling herself up. "Anyways, who fired a gun? That gunshot practically drove out all the animals here."

JD awkwardly raised a hand. "That was me, sorry."

Both Duke and McNamara stared at him.

"Why is the Jessie James-looking kid here," Duke asked. "And more importantly, why the hell does he have a gun!?"

"It's for self-defense!" JD retorted, shoving his gun down his pockets.

" _Self defense_  my ass!" Duke shouted. "You could have killed somebody!"

"Then good! I'll be warning the cult to stop messing with me!"

"Wait, there's a cult here!?" McNamara exclaimed.

Things would have turned into chaos if it weren't for Chandler, who immediately silenced the argument with a shrill whistle. "You two, stop bickering for fuck's sake!" 

Duke seethed. "Heather, you do realize that emo kid here could have  _killed_  you!?"

Chandler's brows furrowed. "I did realize that, Heather. But right now, we need to actually get out of here."

On the other hand, Veronica had muted the conversation between the Heathers and JD before it even started, she's already done it multiple times and she was afraid that it was beginning to become a habit. But she wasn't in the mood to hear them quarrel, nor talk about death and killing and shit. 

_And also, this 'Red Eye'_. Veronica knew that this group never existed in the past timeline, but now here they were. She immediately concluded that the Red Eye was probably a result for the time anomaly, because of what she could discern, it was the most probable reason.

Veronica jerks her attention back to the group when she heard another gunshot. She whipped her head around, expecting JD to have brandished his gun again and fire yet another warning shot. Confusion was all she met with when she didn't see the familiar gleam of the firearm.

She glanced at JD and noticed that he shared the same look of confusion. So did Chandler, and McNamara, and Duke. Something wasn't right.

Then she heard God muttering something in a foreign language. " _ **No...they're already here**_." 

"Was that another gunshot?" Duke spoke first. 

"Goddamnit, The Red Eye is already here!" JD attempted to lower his voice, afraid that something in the shadows was listening to them, ready to pounce on them at any time.

Veronica was surprised that McNamara decided to speak next."Wait, did you just say...'The Red Eye'...?"

JD nodded. "Yeah, it's the name of the cult." He explained. "Why are you asking?"

Before JD had already mentioned anything about a cult, McNamara had looked like she saw a ghost. However, as soon as JD said the name, Veronica saw her expression shift into one of pure horror as the color drained from her face.

 

* * *

 

The nightmare, it was becoming real.

McNamara was sure that she was going to die, and so was Chandler, and Duke, and Veronica. 

The nightmare had been haunting her, visions of their dead bodies, of the two figures fighting to the death forever etched into her mind. And of course, she would not forget the slits on their throats that appeared like grins, as if it was mocking her. 

And here was the figure who had caused their death. He looked meek and small, compared to them, but the blonde knew that this very man was very capable of murder.

She needed to get everyone out of there, away from The Red Eye, and most certainly away from JD. 

McNamara didn't trust this JD figure, not one bit, but now she was walking amidst filth with him and the other fellow victims from her dream in order to escape members from The Red Eye.

"Goddamn, this place is massive," Veronica complained. Duke gave a hum in agreement, which made Veronica grin. "At least someone here also thinks so."

"I'm used to massive spaces because I visit Mac's house regularly." Chandler reasoned. "How about you, Jessie James?"

A short period of silence always followed when JD was asked a question. It made McNamara uncomfortable and even more suspicious of him. At least this time he was quicker to respond, noticing how tense that she had become. 

"I don't really mind spaces this big," He shrugged. "Big spaces give me comfort, gives me more freedom than a small room."

"Hmm," Chandler let out a thoughtful hum. "Looks like we agree with something for once."

"It looks like we have."

"Where are we exactly going?" Duke asked, glancing at JD. "Nothing here but squirrels, cobwebs and-" She suddenly sneezes. "-Dust."

Chandler snickered. "You forgot to take your allergy pills?"

Duke rubbed her nose. "I ran out, I was supposed to get some for the pharmacist, but we had to get that damn table that you sent-"

McNamara flinched when she saw Chandler sending her foot down on Duke's own, forcing the latter to give out a howl of pain.  _And those are high heels_. McNamara grimaced.

"Jesus Christ, Chandler what the hell!?" Veronica exclaimed.

Chandler battered her eyelashes innocently. "Oops?" She continued walking without another word.

Veronica immediately went by Duke's side and whatever they were talking about, McNamara decided not to listen.

"The door should be around somewhere here," JD mumbled. 

His flashlight began to flicker on and off.  "Oh god...please don't die." Much to his dismay, the flashlight died, giving an audible pop before it went out. 

McNamara heard JD curse, some of the words she didn't even know existed until now. 

Up ahead in the darkness, McNamara could make out a set of double doors that was already barely hanging off the hinges. The door was slightly ajar, letting the pale light to enter and dimly light the corridor they were walking down.

"Hey, is that the exit you were talking about?" Veronica's perked up from the front, pointing at the half-opened door. 

Jd nodded. "It is, but I wonder why it's opened."

"Wait, it wasn't opened before?" McNamara asked. Anxiety gripped her chest and she found it awfully difficult to breathe.

"This door was locked before," JD answered. "I'm not sure why it's open right now."

"That would be me." A deep, masculine voice snickered in the darkness. Though they heard only one voice, it felt like that the voice came from everywhere. "How smart of you to notice." It continued to titter.

Chandler made her way to the front of the group. "Who the hell are you, and what the hell do you want!?" She demanded, confidently. 

This only amused the voice in the darkness even more. "Oh? Confident are we?" McNamara noticed a dark figure approaching them from the darkest corner of the hallway. "Humans continue to amuse me."

A sudden gust of wind forced the doors to completely open. Amidst the blinding moon, everyone could fully see who this new figure was. 

Tall. Broad-shouldered. A crimson cloak covering most of their body, and a smiling mask that seems to taunt them concealing their face. Peering closer,  McNamara could see an outline of a dagger or a knife hidden barely beneath the cloak.

"What the..." JD mumbled, shielding his eyes from the light.

"Now that you have seen me, I'm afraid I have to..." The figure reached into his cloak. "Eliminate you."

Warning bells rang in McNamara's head as the figure brandished his dagger. She was familiar with this 'instinct' of hers, a fight or flight system that she had always relied upon for multiple, impacting decisions. She had encountered multiple dangerous-looking people more than enough times in her lifetime, and this figure was no exception. This instinct of her's was warning her that this figure was a bigger threat than they seemed and that she must run. Yet, there was another part of her to fight.

Thankfully, she decided against the latter option.

However, before she could even take action, the figure appeared in front of Veronica, dagger aimed at her as they were ready to plunge it into her chest. Time seemed to slow down as McNamara reached out for the figure's cloak so she could grab it and pull them back before they could do anything to harm or kill Veronica.

What happened next truly baffled McNamara.

A blinding, golden light surged out from the pockets of Veronica's blazer, and immediately McNamara brought her arms up to her face. Everyone, including the figure, was rendered sightless as the light seemingly continued to glow brighter by very passing seconds.

McNamara parted her arms to take a peek of her surroundings. She gasped at what she could barely discern. 

Among the pure, surging light, there stood the childish figure from her dreams. They were unaffected by the light and continued to stand there with a solemn look on their face. The figure stared at the cloaked other with eyes filled with pure hatred. The former raised their hands and with a click of their fingers, McNamara was suddenly plunged into darkness.

 

* * *

 

Veronica woke up with tears in her eyes, and her hands clutching her chest in a feeble attempt to protect it from any harm. 

She was in her room, in her safe haven. No mysterious, red-cloaked figures, no murky shadows, and no daggers that were about to be plunged deep into her chest. She was in her bed, safe and protected from the dangers of the outside world.

Memories of what happened before were still freshly imprinted in her mind. She could have died if it weren't for that bright light-

_The stone!_. Realizing that the stone may have caused that surge, she hastily reached into her pocket and pulled the stone out. 

It still had its magnificent gleam, however, it felt hot to touch. God had mentioned before that the stone had two uses. One to summon them to her, and the other was something she had to figure out for herself.

Veronica looked at her calendar, it was still the same date; September 10th, 1989, a week and a few days after she met the Heathers. Then she glanced at her clock. The arrows were pointed at  _1:34_. She remembered that it was about  _12:12_  when that light gushed out from her pockets, maybe the stone had managed to transport her an hour into the future?

"This stone...it's more powerful than expected."

And speaking about the stone, God had disappeared, Veronica had expected them to at least be in the same room as her. Perhaps they had disappeared for a good reason, and that reason was to avoid answering any daunting questions Veronica may have had.

But the latter was wrong, since Veronica had no questions at all, at least just for now. 

_But how about the others?_  Veronica grabbed her phone and flipped it opened. She quickly goes to her contacts and presses onto a familiar name.

She quickly types a message and presses 'send', before returning her phone onto her bedside table.

Veronica had a lot of questions for tomorrow, mainly aimed at God, because she knew for a fact that the deity had about all the answers to everything in general, but a lack of publicity for these answers prevented them for answering. 

She was going to leave everything to tomorrow, for now, she intended to rest, for she was very, very tired.

As Veronica closed her eyes and her mind wandering into the dullness of sleep, God stepped out from the darkest corner of the room, giving a loud, audible sigh.

They looked remorseful as if they were regretting everything that had happened. It was the truth though, they had regretted everything, and they felt like it was entirely their fault that it happened in the first place. 

God was to take all the blame, but they didn't mind, as long as Veronica and the others were still alive. It was a promise they had made before, a long time ago.

"The countdown for the first death has already begun, good luck, miss." And then they were gone, and they were to return to the morning with the answers Veronica wanted.

 

* * *

 

 

**「Next time」**

 

"Can you just tell me what's going on!?"

"My mother...used to be part of the-"

"Have you heard of the rumors? We're getting a transfer student!"

"Nice to meet 'cha! My name is  _ **[mEmORy cOrrUPtED, tImELiNE dIStoRtinG]**_!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a break from writing, sorry about that I just got Assassin's Creed Odyssey and I wanted to play it. Two weeks into playing it and I haven't even got 40% of the map, this just shows how big the game is like literally.
> 
> The gay will probably start next chapter, hopefully lmao.
> 
> Also, how would you guys like it if I wrote another Heathers AU fanfic like maybe an Angsty Hanahaki AU or a Magic AU cos like my mind is filled with ideas right now, but don't worry i'll still continue writing this one.


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